Just don't ask Mr. President to name his favorite White Sox or Nationals players not named Bryce Harper; remember, his favorite team is the White Sox, and his second fave is the Nats.

"We were talking about one of the biggest stars right now in
Washington, is Bryce Harper, who comes out of Nevada, and I know folks
are really proud of him. He's doing great. And it's my second favorite
team now, after the Chicago White Sox." (President Barack Obama, via KSNV video, 7/9/2012)

So Friday night's Curly W went up in smoke in the 9th inning. The good news is, Tyler Clippard has a few weeks to figure sh-t out; and there's always Drew Storen if he can't. Meanwhile, we'd be remiss if we didn't relive the glory of Bryce Harper gunning down Ryan Braun at the plate with his bazooka arm in the fourth inning. MLB.com video above and here.

"It's been really bad lately for me. Been trying
to pinpoint what exactly it is as far as making as many mistakes as I've
been making. I've been feeling good physically, which
makes it more frustrating from my perspective. Because when I feel
physically 100 percent I should be getting outs." (Tyler Clippard, via Washington Examiner, 9/22/2012)

September 21, 2012

Video above (via MLB.com) has Bob Carpenter and Charlie Slowes calling the final out of last night's clincher, when Drew Storen struck out Hanley Ramirez (fitting, considering that Ramirez killed the Nats for years with the Marlins). Pretty big deal.

"The turning point was Day 1, when [the Lerner family] was committed to a
program of scouting and player development -- long-term building, try
to build internally, get home-grown players. As we see,
the team that we see out there on the field is largely homegrown with
some very key important strategic pieces added on top of it. That was
always their plan. They didn't waver during the tough times. They stuck
to their plan. You are seeing the results now. It appears they are going
to enjoy those results in the years to come." (Stan Kasten, via Nationals.com, 9/20/2012)